46 Killed in China After Week of Storms

BEIJING – Storms pummeling southern China over the past week have killed at least 46 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless, state-run media said Wednesday.

The worst-hit area has been Fujian province, where heavy rains have triggered floods and landslides that have killed 26 people since May 29, the China Daily said, citing Li Baojun, an official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

State television showed residents in Jian'ou, a city in Fujian, wading through murky waist-high flood water as they were evacuated from their homes. Armed police officers guided residents to safety, with some carrying the elderly on their backs.

In Guangdong province, 11 people were killed and another 60,000 to 70,000 were evacuated, the China Daily said.

Guizhou province and the city of Chongqing have also been hit by gales and hailstorms, it said.

The report did not give any details on where the other deaths occurred.

China suffers hundreds of deaths every year in floods set off during the June-to-August rainy season. Rivers overflow and water rushes down mountains stripped of trees by decades of farming and logging.